“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Drink the Wild Air winter youth writing retreat is a great time to reconnect with the WordsWorth community, make new friends, and, most importantly, write! Time will be spent outdoors!
Drink the Wild Air 2020
But, don’t just take our word for it on how amazing the camps are. Here are some comments from past participants:
I return because I want to continue to learn and grow in my writing skills, and the instructors are so kind it has become a home away from home.”
It is fun & awesome. We do really exciting stuff & it is super happy & stuff. Oh, & it’s, like, writing, so that’s coolness right there.”
I return because everyone here wants to write, they want to play Dungeons & Dragons; they watch every nerdy show under the sun. When people sign up for a class they want to learn about developing a character or how to write a screen play.”
I have so much fun here and so many great friends; everybody is so supportive and it inspires me to continue my writing.”
This is an environment where I’m not afraid to be myself.”
A Message from Colin Matty
Dear Friends of WordsWorth,
The best of the season to one and all! This is Colin Matty, Director of WordsWorth, with a timely announcement and thoughts of the new year.
Drink the Wild Air is our homage to the joys of WordsWorth proper in July, and this is your personal invitation to join us from March 8-10 out at Kamp Kiwanis for a weekend of community and creativity. We’ll explore the scenic woods as they dream of Spring's impending springing. We’ll sing songs by the fire, bathe in starlite, and get a few lungfuls of that rarefied air coming in off the Elbow River as it makes its way to Calgary.
Registration is now open, so ring the bells and bang the drums – When winter ends, spring will come! Until then, may your holiday season be filled with all things nourishing to the body, mind, and soul.
Good Health and Good Spirits,
Colin Matty
Director of WordsWorth
Registration is now closed.
Cancellation Policy
| If you cancel: | You will receive: |
| On or before Feb. 8, 2019 | 100% of the registration fees refunded |
| Feb. 11 - Mar. 8, 2019 | 50% of the registration fees refunded |
| After Mar. 8, 2019 | No refund |
RIO Interactive Advent Calendar Surprise!
If you haven't had a chance yet to have a look through AWCS Youth Programs & RIO's Interactive Advent Calendar, we hope you will take a moment to pay them a visit! Among the pages is a special Drink the Wild Air surprise!
The 2019 Team
Colin Matty (Camp Director) is a playwright, poet, performer, and enthusiast of wordplay in all its forms. He first began his journey with WordsWorth and the Writers’ Guild in 2011, and has since come to appreciate the incredible passion and power of the community of young writers it brings together. While not scheming ways to make the experiences at camp even more magical, Colin runs his best ideas through a typewriter and gives them to strangers on the street. (Photo Credit: Cory Johnn Photography)
Jess Tollestrup has been told that they are an alien from another planet, a reincarnated musician from the 90’s, and an observer of the fifth dimension. In practice, they are a travelling bard studying physics at the University of Lethbridge. They understand that math can be a dirty word among writers, but hope that they can still share with you their awe of shapes that have finite volume and infinite surface area. In 2017 they released their EP ‘The Pluto Year’ and chapbook ‘Metafesto’. jesstollestrup.com
Sadie MacGillivray was born and raised in Iron River, AB. You know where that is: on the edge of nowhere — 30 minutes past the middle. She spent 6 summers as a camper at Wordsworth and loved every minute of it. She is currently completing her third year at Macewan University in the Professional Communications stream, and is a little closer to becoming an editor than she was when she started at Macewan. This past fall, Sadie finally achieved her dream of traveling to Japan. She climbed part way up Mt. Fuji before a semester of study at the Nagasaki University of Foreign Studies. At the university, she took a variety of classes and learned how fun teaching can be, as well as some local history about Nagasaki, flower arrangement, and, of course, some Japanese. Sadie hopes to be able to go back one day to visit friends and see more of Japan, including the sunset/-rise from the summit of Mt. Fuji. On another note, she will gladly accept any challengers to a game of volleyball. Anytime. Anywhere.